Introduction

From Cooking for Engineers by Michael Chu
From Cooking for Engineers by Michael Chu

Minutes to Prepare: 20

Minutes to Cook: 60

Number of Servings: 2

Ingredients

A few years ago, my friend Margaret gave me an easy recipe for baked chicken and rice. This is a tasty meal that requires very little preparation. Even if you're just cooking for yourself, making a large batch means you'll have tasty microwavable dinners for the next couple days. If you're cooking for a casual get together, this is a great recipe since it frees you up to chat or make a salad while the chicken and rice is in the oven.

The ingredients for this dish are variable. Essentially, all you need is a can of cream of mushroom, rice, water, and chicken parts. Vegetables (like spinach and broccoli), aromatics (like celery, garlic, onions, carrots, and shallots), and spices (paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, etc.) are all great additions to the dish to add variety and a little excitement.

In today's example, I will be using onion, garlic, zucchini, and garlic powder as my add-ins. Start with one medium onion, one clove garlic, one cup rice, one can condensed cream of mushroom, four pounds of chicken parts, 2-1/2 cups water, and one medium zucchini. I used chicken thighs in this example but I generally prefer to use drumsticks for this recipe. I usually lay out the chicken pieces in the pan that I plan to bake the chicken in. That way I know how many pieces to use in the recipe. If there's time, the chicken can be improved by brining in a 4 cup water 1/2 cup table salt solution for about an hour. The onion is diced, garlic is minced, and the zucchini cut lengthwise twice and then chopped into 1/4 in. slices.

Melt one tablespoon butter in a large oven-safe pan. If you're planning on using a different pan to bake the chicken, then you can use a saucepan for this.

When the butter foams and begins to subside, add one cup rice to the melted butter.

Cook, while stirring, until some of the rice becomes opaque. The rice will become lightly browned while we cook the onions in the next step.

Add the diced onions and cook until tender (about 2 minutes). Meanwhile, whisk the can of cream of mushroom with 2-1/2 cup water until smooth.

Stir in the minced garlic followed immediately with the zucchini.

Pour the cream of mushroom mixture into the pan and stir to combine. (If using a separate pan for baking, pour the cream of mushroom mixture into the pan and then add the cooked rice and onions to the mixture. Stir until combined.)

Add the chicken pieces to the mixture. Sprinkle the surface of the mixture with 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

Bake at 375°F for 1 hour or until thighs read 170°F. If using drumsticks, begin checking for doneness after 45 minutes. In general, it's pretty hard to overcook dark meat prepared in this manner, so don't worry too much.

After removing the chicken from the oven, let it stand for about five minutes before scooping out the rice and chicken pieces. (Otherwise, the rice will probably flow everywhere, and it will be difficult to plate effectively.)